Support workers deal goes to vote
Catholic school union calling for ratification
Striking Edmonton Catholic school support workers are expected to vote as early as Monday on a deal their union is recommending be approved.
Union representatives and officials with Edmonton Catholic Schools signed a memorandum of agreement Friday, school district spokeswoman Lori Nagy said.
“It addresses all of the concerns that were brought forward by the union, and those are secretarial workload, job security and wages in the second year of the agreement,” Nagy said.
Details can’t be released until after union members have reviewed the offer. Union spokesman Danny Burrell said both parties agreed to present and recommend the agreement to their members on Monday.
“If both sides agree, we will have our people back to work on Tuesday, Oct. 2,” he said.
If workers vote in favour of the deal, the school board will schedule a special public school board meeting to ratify the agreement, Nagy said.
A total of 916 members of the Catholic Support Staff Association have been on strike since Sept. 10.
The workers, mostly library staff, secretaries, teacher assistants and special-needs teacher assistants, have been without a contract since last fall.
While Edmonton’s Catholic school board sent employees from its central office to fill the gaps left by striking workers, many special-needs students have not attended school because of the strike.